It has been a privilege to write a near-daily piece on addiction science, and watch as GLP-1 drugs have gone from treating type 2 diabetes, to treating overweight, to treating addiction, and now treating just about anything that ails humanity: inflammation, heart disease, liver disease, dementia, the list goes on and on.

Drug manufacturers were slow to test GLP-1 drugs against addiction because they did not see enough profit upside and lots of potential downside. It has been largely up to university researchers to tease out the relationship between GLP-1 drugs and addiction. However, much of the funding for that research has been or will be terminated by the Trump administration.

It is with great fanfare, then, that the School of Pharmacy at the University of Texas El Paso (UTEP) published the results of a study into the effectiveness of GLP-1 drugs in treating substance use disorders for people suffering from type 2 diabetes or obesity. The researchers used data collected by All Of Us, a project of the National Institutes of Health. The data covers adults from 2005 to 2025.

The researchers took advantage of a built-in control group: people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes or obesity who were not taking GLP-1 drugs. Of 140,000 patients studied, 20,000 had been prescribed GLP-1 drugs. The impact on substance use disorders (SUDs) was stunning:

• 74% lower odds of alcohol use disorder
• 69% lower odds of opioid use disorder
• 68% lower odds of nicotine use disorder
• 75% lower odds of cocaine use disorder

The researchers tested dulaglutide, liraglutide, exenatide, and semaglutide, which had the overall best results with an 85% reduction in SUDs. In examining the dramatic results, the researchers made the understatement of the year: “These findings suggest that GLP-1 RAs may exert behavioral-modifying effects that extend beyond glycemic control and weight loss.” 

The researchers do not speculate on how these extra-glycemic effects occur, but other research has indicated GLP-1 drugs reduce “food noise” (and alcohol noise, and gambling noise, etc.) by adjusting a metabolic set-point that reduces cravings and the symptoms of withdrawal. The researchers note that animal studies show GLP-1 drugs “reduce drug-seeking behavior and attenuate conditioned place preference for substances such as alcohol, nicotine, and cocaine.” They speculate on the cause:

While the exact mechanisms remain to be fully elucidated, proposed pathways include modulation of dopamine release, suppression of neuroinflammation, and attenuation of stress-related neural circuits… While our study does not establish causality or delineate mechanism, the consistency of associations across multiple SUD categories aligns with a shared neurobehavioral pathway influenced by GLP-1 receptor activation.

Dr. Tadesse Abegaz, lead author of the study, told Newswise, “These medications appear to affect brain pathways involved in reward and craving, which could help explain the lower rates of substance use disorders observed in our study.” 

The researchers are not yet recommending GLP-1 drugs be prescribed for SUDs due to data being limited to persons with obesity or type 2 diabetes. However, Dr. Abegaz feels the study lays the groundwork for GLP-1 drugs to “become part of future treatment strategies for substance use disorders.”

Written by Steve O’Keefe. First published June 22, 2026.

Sources:

“Association between GLP-1 receptor agonist use and substance use disorders among individuals with type 2 diabetes or obesity: a nested case-control study in the All of Us research program,” Frontiers in Psychiatry: Addictive Disorders, March 9, 2026.

“Ozempic, GLP-1s May Help Curb Substance Use Disorders, UTEP Study Finds,” UTEP News Release on Newswise, June 8, 2026.

“Ozempic and similar drugs may help fight addiction,” Earth.com, June 11, 2026.

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